Australia beat ‘best in the world’ Blitzboks in thrilling Valladolid Final

Australia hadn’t won a HSBC SVNS Series event for more than 1,300 days, but that title drought came to a triumphant end at Valladolid’s Estadio José Zorilla. The Aussies fought their way back and overcame a red card to beat World Championship leaders South Africa 26-19.

Ryan Oothuizen described Australia as South Africa’s “bogey team” ahead of the Men’s Cup Final on Sunday. Australia had beaten the Blitzboks during the pool stages and again a couple of months ago at the regular season finale at SVNS New York.

But the Blitzboks appeared to be sailing towards another title, with the try-scoring duo of Shilton van Wyk and Sebastiaan striking inside the first three minutes. It was 14-0 in the blink of an eye, but the Aussies had plenty of fight in them.

James Turner and Ethan McFarland struck just before the break, with a clutch conversion by Maurice Longbottom levelling the scores. Ben Dowling and Henry Hutchison crossed during the second term, before a red card risked unravelling everything.

Turner was shown a red card for a high shot, and the Blitzboks made the most of their advantage, with Gino Cupido touching down for five almost immediately. The Blitzboks thought they’d done enough to level it at the death, but that effort was ruled out for a forward pass.

Catch up on HSBC SVNS World Championship action on RugbyPass TV. You can create an account HERE.

“Sevens is a wild rollercoaster. It’s game by game; you’re up, you’re down, you’re up, you’re down. But sh** the boys dug deep there with six players, 90 seconds to go, they fought, they fought, they fought,” Josh Turner told RugbyPass in Valladolid.

“I think there’s seven of the guys in this team who have never won a tournament, so that’s their first tournament [title] so that’s outstanding,”

“Then you’ve got the likes of [Henry Hutchison] who’s played 67 tournaments and he’s only won one. It’s his first win as a capital so shoutout to him man, it’s unreal.”

South Africa have been the team to beat for most the SVNS Series, claiming silverware at their home event in Cape Town last December and then going on a remarkable run. The Blitzboks won titles in Perth, Vancouver and New York to claim the regular season title.

The Blitzboks carried that form into the new-look World Championship, winning the fan favourite Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens for the first time. They sit in first on the World Championship standings despite this result in Spain, with it all to play for in Bordeaux

“South Africa is currently the best in the world and they just play such a good game and we know we can play great footy if we keep the ball in hand,” Josh Turner said.

“If we keep the ball in hand, we’re hard to stop, so that’s what we did there.”

The World Championship winners will be crowned next weekend in Bordeaux, with the top eight sides on the ladder earning core status for the 2026/27 SVNS Series. Whoever finishes in the bottom four will be left to fight their way back up from the second division.